Monster
by a123b
Summary: AU- He was a living weapon, a living monster. And he hurt her. Based on The Incredible Hulk movie.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1-**

One Month Ago-

It was a quiet night other than the barking of a dog and the crunching of leaves and dirt. A tall hooded, broad shouldered figure was walking swiftly through the forest. His heavy work boots left deep prints in his wake. He had a messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

The man reached the edge of the forest where it connected to a sidewalk and a quiet road. A quick look at his wrist watch revealed it was a few hours past midnight. He continued walking, giving pause when he felt a strong grip on his shoulders.

"What's the rush buddy?" he heard a deep accented voice ask. Canadian, he thought to himself.

The hooded man turned around, revealing two golden eyes that shone through the darkness of the night.

"Just trying to get home." the man said in his deep, raspy voice. He observed the Canadian man, and judging by his uniform he was a cop on patrol. He was young, maybe in his late twenty's and Caucasian. He didn't really have any distinguishing features.

"Well, due to the recent attacks in this area, anybody out after midnight has to be searched and show some identification." said the officer in a bored tone.

The hooded man remained silent for a few seconds before bolting as fast as he could into the forest. The cop was shouting at him and judging by the sounds behind him, the cop was close behind. The golden eyed man simply ran faster but he tripped on a root and fell hard, his head hitting a rock in the ground. In his dazed state he wasn't able to fight off the cop who climbed onto his back, cuffing his hands.

"You're in a shitload trouble as it is, I don't think you want to get in more." the cop said almost mockingly. "Now let's take a look at what's in your bag..."

"NO!" shouted the golden eyed man. His hood fell away revealing a pale skinned face with a huge scar that took up most of the left side. The pale moonlight highlighted the red, angry scar in stark relief.

He got up as best he could and rammed himself into the cop to get away, but then a gunshot rang out.

"...Fuck..." he groaned when he felt bullet slam into his calf.

"I didn't want to do that!" said the officer. The pale skinned man tried to breathe deeply, almost meditatively, trying to rein in his anger and frustration at the pain in his leg. The temperature seemed to rise in the forest.

"What the fuck..." the officer mumbled as he felt waves of heat roll off of the man.

"GET AWAY FROM ME NOW! BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!" he screamed, his face showed a mixture of pain and fear. _Not again, this can't be happening! _His gold eyes turned red and the air in the forest became almost burning hot.

The officer started to back away when he noticed his eyes turn red. "What are you?" he whispered when he saw steam flare from the nostrils of the man handcuffed on the ground. The man's skin started to turn red, his body getting bigger. The only sound was the sickening snap of bones breaking. The handcuffs broke as his wrists had grown too big for them. His hoodie tore apart as his body grew too a monstrous size.

He let out a guttural scream when he looked at his hands.

"RUN...NOW!" he screamed at the officer who was frozen in shock at the transforming man. The hooded man had grown from a little over six feet to an 8 foot behemoth, and his skin was as red as blood and his eyes looked like molten red lava. His face now only resembled his human face; however the scar was still visible. His body was covered in rippling muscles; his clothes with the exception of his jeans had been torn apart during his transformation. He stood and growled softly in his throat, the air had become stifling.

"Dear God..." whispered the officer.

People heard an inhumane roar, even miles away. The next day the police found the body of the officer on patrol, all of his bones crushed and his skin covered in burns.


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N.- This one's a little longer than the other one, please leave feedback and constructive criticism as this is my first story.**

**And a Huge thanks to the lovely Diamondkitty who cleaned up these chapters for me.**

**Disclaimer- The usual, I don't own ATLA or Marvel.**

_This font represents thought._

**Chapter 2**

Present-

General Hakoda walked into his office and sat down almost aggressively in his seat. He was enraged and about to go and throw a tantrum but the picture of his kids, Sokka and Katara calmed him.

_That bastard Agni got away from me again. It's been 5 goddam years and we still couldn't catch him. _Hakoda let out an exhausted sigh and massaged his temples. He had just received a report from the Task force that was responsible for tracking Zuko Agni. The Hulk Busters is what they called themselves, and they reported the murder of a State Trooper in Canada.

The Task force obtained the police report as well, and there wasn't anything too strange about it to the eyes of an outsider. The Trooper was found crushed and burned in the forest and residents within a one mile radius reported a strange sound, a cross between a lion and bear roar that woke them up at three in the morning.

Hakoda put the report on his desk. The desk in question was littered with reports and pictures of Zuko sightings, as well as newspaper clippings. The headlines read 'Red Sasquatch Sighting' and 'ESU Gamma Lab Destroyed'. When Hakoda read the last headline he closed his eyes and remembered that day.

5 years ago-

A man, a little over six feet tall, pale, and broad shouldered, walked into the laboratory's observatory room. He had short black hair that was slightly spiked at the front and eyes that were golden. Behind him was a beautiful brunette, she was about a head shorter, and her big blue eyes held worry. Her eyes quickly shone with happiness when she spotted Hakoda.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed while running up to embrace Hakoda.

"Hello Katara, I hope you are well." Hakoda smiled while holding Katara at arm's length to take a good look at her. He was startled with how much she resembled Kya, his dead wife. _I __guess I __shouldn't be __surprised;__ she is twenty-four after all._

Katara nodded with a smile on her face and grabbed the pale man's hand so she could bring him closer to Hakoda. Hakoda noticed their linked hands and the look the two scientists shared but decided not to comment on it just yet.

"Hello sir, I'm Dr. Zuko Agni." The man said, pulling away from Katara. He held his hand out to Hakoda, who noticed the New York accent and without missing a beat took Zuko's offered hand. He secretly approved of the strong grip the boy had. _Man_ he corrected himself_ this boy is a Man. _Hakoda almost flinched at the sight of the scar on Zuko's face but managed to hold it in.

"I know who you are boy, youngest graduate of ESU's physics and biochemistry PhD program and the country's leading expert on Gamma Radiation." Hakoda said with a light smile and mirth in his eyes.

Zuko's cheeks turned slightly red at the praise the General had given him. _A modest one huh?_ Hakoda thought to himself "So what was it that you wanted to show me?" asked Hakoda.

"Well as you know the military asked me to replicate the super soldier serum with the incomplete formula they gave me." Zuko stated. "But the missing part of the equation was something I wasn't able to complete. However, while I was doing some research and experiments on the side about Gamma radiation I found something better" Zuko said excitement shading his tone as he led the General to a rather large and strong looking lab rat.

"We were using...er... Foofoocuddlypoops" Zuko glared at Katara when he said this, and she giggled "for some experiments to cure his degeneration. But when we used the Gamma rays on him we found that it not only cured his degeneration but his strength, speed, and agility have also been amplified significantly" Zuko said with a smile.

Hakoda's eyes widened at this and he looked at the rat. It was obviously more muscular than a typical rat, and it was in some reinforced type of glass.

"We've also tested on several rodents and the results are all the same." said Zuko.

"So you're going to use Gamma radiation on a human?" Hakoda asked.

Zuko nodded, and Hakoda noticed the worried look in Katara's eyes.

"Since this was my idea and research, I will be used as the test subject" Zuko said with a look of confidence.

Hakoda made a face as if to say 'Lead the way'.

"Zuko... Please think about this." Katara softly pleaded, her blue eyes shimmering.

"I'll be fine Katara, I have calculated every single possible variable and outcome, and this will be safe." Zuko said in a soft rasp as he looked at Katara. The two continued to gaze at each other until Hakoda not-so-subtly cleared his throat. The two blushed and broke their gaze.

"So when will you test doctor?" asked Hakoda. He noticed Katara's hand had latched onto Zuko's tightly.

"Right now." Zuko rasped with finality.

Hakoda watched as the young man was strapped into a chair with a huge machine attached to it. There was a clear dome structure around the machine that was there to hold in the radiation. There was a smaller machine, it looked like a tiny laser cannon that was eye level with Zuko.

Several of the other scientists were busy typing away at their computers, staring intently at the monitors. Hakoda and Katara looked through the observatory glass that separated them from Zuko. Zuko looked at a Scientist to Hakoda's left and nodded. The man pulled down a switch and the laser-like machine shined a bright green light at Zuko's right eye. Katara looked at Zuko with apprehension; Zuko gave Katara a wink in an attempt to calm her. That's when things went wrong.

"What's happening…why is he thrashing around like that?" screamed Katara. Zuko's eyes had opened wide while he struggle to escape from his bonds. A red light had started flashing throughout the observatory.

"The radiation is reacting to his blood strangely, this didn't happen during any of the other tests!" screamed a panicked scientist.

"Well then shut it off!" Katara screamed.

Hakoda was worriedly looking at the door, the two military officers that were with him looked worried as well.

Katara put a hand to the glass and gazed in horror as Zuko's eyes shone a bright red. "...Zuko..." Katara whispered.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING TO HIM?" shouted Hakoda.

Zuko's skin had started to turn red. The entire lab felt like it was a hundred degrees. Zuko's body grew and his clothes were torn apart, he let out a ferocious roar as his now massive body destroyed the machine so he could stand up.

Hakoda just barely got out of the way when Zuko threw the Laser-like machine at the glass that separated them. The glass shattered upon impact and some of the shards hit Hakoda.

"KATARA!" screamed Hakoda when he saw her unconscious body on the ground, her head bleeding where the machine had hit; her left forearm bent in an awkward position. Hakoda didn't register the Red monster that was approaching. He ran to kneel beside his daughter. "Katara honey, wake up." he said, his voice pleading.

Zuko stopped in front of Katara and his big, scarred, red skinned face looked at her gently as he reached out a huge hand to her.

"STAY AWAY FROM HER YOU FREAK!" Hakoda shouted as he put his body in between her and Zuko.

His big red face looked confused until the sound of bullets rang out. Zuko's face flinched as he felt bullets bounce off his back, his face twisted into aggression as he let out a snarl and turned around to the two officers. Zuko grabbed the first one and crushed the man's skull in his big hand. He then threw the second man into the monitors. The rest of the scientists had all hidden under the tables, crying quietly. Zuko let out a viscous roar and jumped, breaking clean through the roof and into the sky.

Hakoda was still in shock as he held his daughter's body to him.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN- Please continue reading this story, and drop reviews!**

**I's like to thank everyone who reviewed the last 2 chapters. I'd also like to thank diamondkitty for being my beta. Enjoy!**

**BTW if you haven't already, I recommend that you watch The Incredible Hulk (2008). I basically took that movie scene-by-scene and added in my own twists along the way.  
**

**Writing in bold is a foreign language**

_Writing in Italics denotes thoughts_

**Disclaimer - I do no not own ATLA or Marvel**

**Chapter 3**

**Present-**

_ "Wake up baby." I heard a soft angelic voice tell me. I opened my eyes to the feeling of a very soft and warm body above me and magnificent blue eyes staring into my own._

"_Hey stranger" My already raspy voice sounded even huskier due to sleep. Katara smiled and planted a sweet kiss on my lips. I could feel all of her body against mine, her soft breasts pressed against my hard chest. Katara stopped so that she could plant kisses all over my face, and she peppered kisses on my scar. Even though I was self-conscious of my scar around strangers, Katara made me feel proud of it. She then rubbed her face against it and nuzzled my scar. My desire was making its self known. She stopped nuzzling my scar and looked into my eyes with a mischievous look on her pretty face._

_ "Ready for another round, big boy?" she said huskily as she leaned into me..._

"BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!" went Zuko's alarm clock before he slapped it with a bit more force than necessary. He sat up in his futon and rubbed his tired face, running his fingers through shaggy hair that now reached his nose. His entire upper body had a light sheen of sweat due to the humidity in the Brazilian air. This happened to him every morning. He'd have a dream about Katara and all of the...fun they'd had and just when it would get good he would wake up feeling frustrated as fuck and have to_ slang his wang, _as Sokka would say, to relieve himself.

He felt a pang in his heart when he remembered his eccentric friend. Zuko turned his head to look at the picture next to his alarm clock; it was Katara in a white lab coat giving a lecture to a class, her pretty face smiling. A wistful look came upon his face when he remembered her smile, the way her eyes seemed to light up. He didn't dwell on that thought any longer.

He looked at his alarm clock and saw that it was five in the morning, so after washing up he got dressed in a white tank and black sweats and headed to the gym at the lower end of the ring he lived in.

**5 years ago-**

"What have I done...?" Zuko whispered brokenly as he sat down in the chair beside Katara's hospital bed. She had white gauze wrapped around her forehead, the white cloth contrasting with her brown skin. She had a small cast on her forearm and saline drip sluggishly running into her hand.

He reached with a pale hand and very gently caressed her bruised cheek, and this motion caused her to open her eyes. Zuko debated on whether to run or not, when she reached out with her small delicate hand and softly touched his scarred cheek. He let a tear fall out his good eye which she wiped away immediately.

"...It's okay" she said, her voice scratchy from lack of use. She was delirious from all of the pain killers running through her body. "I love you" she said before falling back asleep.

"I hurt you..." Zuko said in a broken voice, he rarely cried and this was one of the very few times he allowed himself the luxury. He squeezed her hand tight and drank his fill of her. He had to get out of here. The General was going to start looking for him soon enough.

"I love you" he whispered as he got up. _And I will never hurt you again._

"Come back to me..." she whispers in her sleep as he goes. He paused at the door and looked back at her unconscious body. A tear fell from his cheek to the floor, and then Zuko was gone.

Present-

Zuko walked back to his small apartment, he waved at Jin, a pretty girl with green eyes and lightly tanned skin who'd been trying to get his attention since he moved here and started working at the plant three weeks ago. He went into the house and cooked up some ground beef for breakfast. While it cooled he took a quick shower and looked at his laptop screen to see if he got any new messages.

By way of encryption network, Zuko had been talking to biochemist Dr. Bumi at NYU. Zuko, under the name of 'Mr. Red' and Bumi under the name of 'Mr. Blue'. They'd been talking back and forth on ways to cure him of gamma radiation poisoning, but Bumi didn't know that he was Zuko Agni. Bumi had sent him a package that had yet to arrive, to help in his quest to cure him of... the Hulk.

Zuko was about to relax until he saw that it was half past eight, he had to get to work. After eating and dressing he went to the door and took a look around his single room apartment. A futon was in the left corner with a table next to it that held his alarm clock, a small TV next to the stove on the right with a single couch in front of it, and a table at end of the room held his computer, chemistry equipment, and internet dish. He let out a sigh as he slung his messenger bag that contained his work clothes for the bottling factory and locked the door.

**"Zuko!"** Zuko turned from his work on the conveyer belt to find that his manager was calling him. His manager beckoned him to come over _He probably wants me fix that faulty switch that__ controls the belts again._

"**I can make it work for another week or so but the hardware in it is faulty, you****'ll**** need to replace it****.****" **Zuko said as he fixed the switch which allowed the conveyer belt to move again. His Portuguese had improved significantly since he got here.

"**What I need is a new factory! Listen, you're too smart for labor, let me put you on payroll ****for a real job ****my boy." **Zuko's manager, a jolly, portly old man, smiled.

Before Zuko could reply he nicked his thumb on the switch causing blood to drop down onto a row of bottles underneath them. Zuko suddenly became panicked. _If it got in one those bottle somebody's gonna get gamma poisoning!_

"**SHUT THAT BELT DOWN, QUICKLY" **Zuko screamed at his manager. His manager looked confused as to why Zuko was so distressed but did as he was told.

Zuko climbed down the stairs rapidly and looked over the bottles. He let out a sigh when he saw that the drop of blood had landed harmlessly on the conveyer belt. He quickly wiped it away with his rag. He didn't notice a small drop of blood that got on one of the bottles. He nodded to his manager, who gave him a look that said _'_This dude is crazy'. _Just when things were looking up, I make myself look like a freak._

The bell for lunch rang and everyone started to file out. Zuko's head was cast downward, embarrassed at what had happened mere minutes ago. As he was leaving, he saw a couple of thugs that

worked in the factory bothering Jin, and he was going to leave it alone until he saw the distressed look on her face. He started to walk towards her.

**"Jin, come have lunch**** with me." **Zuko says with a fake smile. She nodded at him gratefully. The thugs were about to say something to Zuko, but thought better of it. Zuko grabbed her hand and dragged her away.

Zuko stopped by at the post office near his house and was delighted to find that the package from Bumi had arrived. He ran home, bumping into some people on the way. When he got home he dropped the package next to his laptop and logged on to encrypt-net.

Mr. Red: Blue, you there?

Mr. Blue: Yes, My friend did you receive it?

Mr. Red: Yes sir.

Zuko opened the package to find a pristine water lily. These flowers were extremely rare in nature and had the ability to neutralize the radiation in elements.

Mr. Blue: It's a beautiful little flower isn't it?

Mr. Blue: Make sure to try a large dose!

Mr. Blue: Good Luck :)

Zuko clipped the moist, silver petals of the flower into a bowl. He ground up the leaves and drained them, leaving a slimy green liquid. After taking the liquid through the proper distillation and mixing process what Zuko held between his fingertips in small vial was a clear blue liquid.

He quickly pricked his index finger and put his blood on a glass slide. He then put the slide underneath his microscope, noting for what seemed like the millionth time that his blood cells were larger and had thicker walls compared to that of a regular blood cell. They had a dirty red color to them.

He took a syringe and placed a few drops of the water lily solution into his blood. As he looked into the microscope, Zuko saw that his cells had shrank and gained the red color of normal blood cells but within a few seconds they grew bigger than ever, cracking the glass slide they were on. _God Dammit,_ thought Zuko his eyes having gone dull with failure.

Mr. Red: It didn't work.

Mr. Blue: :( How much did you use?

Zuko twirled the petal-less stem of the water lily and threw it in the trash.

Mr. Red: All of it.

Mr. Blue: Then it's time to meet.

Mr. Red: Impossible. Not safe.

Mr. Blue: Living with gamma poisoning not safe.

He did not reply.

Mr. Blue: Send me a blood sample, stop chasing flowers.

He growled in frustration.

Mr. Blue: I can't help you if you won't let me.

Zuko massaged his forehead. _I'm running out of options._ He looked at the picture of Katara's smiling face and made up his mind. After shutting his laptop he sterilized some needles. He clenched his right fist, the veins in his arms becoming more prominent and he stuck the needle into draw a sample of blood. He put his it in a vial and labeled it 'Mr. Red's Blood Sample', putting it in a Styrofoam case.

The next day Zuko sent the package to New York. As he walked home, the sky starting to darken, he couldn't help but remember how great and promising his life was just 5 years ago.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN- As usual please leave me feedback!**

**Also, I take a lot of dialogue and events straight from the Incredible Hulk movie in some of my chapters. Especially on the encrypt-net chats! I'm saying this now so I don't get in trouble later!**

**And a huge thanks to my Beta Diamondkitty! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA or Marvel**

_Italicized writing denotes thoughts OR emphasis_

**Bold writing denotes a foreign language.**

**Chapter 4**

Zuko lay on his futon, staring at the ceiling and not really thinking much. It had been about a week and a half since he'd sent Bumi the blood sample. He was beginning to drift off to sleep when he heard his laptop emit a beep. He got up quickly and opened encrypt-net to find that Bumi had left him a message.

Mr. Blue: I got your blood sample several hours ago. Preliminary radiation tests look promising.

Zuko stared at the message, his eyes widened quite a bit at the last part.

Mr. Red: Will it cure me?

Mr. Blue: Yes.

Zuko was about to jump in joy but another beep stopped him before he could.

Mr. Blue: But...

_There's always a but__,_thought Zuko cynically.

Mr. Blue: I need more data.

"C'mon." Zuko said aloud in irritation.

Mr. Blue: Cell Saturation

Mr. Blue: Gamma Concentration

Mr. Blue: Exposure Levels

Zuko was about to throw a tantrum, the familiar heat he felt in his chest told him to calm down. _You can't transform now, calm your ass down man._

Mr. Red: Impossible, data is not here.

Mr. Blue: Where is it?

Zuko sighed; a pained expression stole over his face as he gazed at the picture of Katara on his nightstand.

Mr. Red: Home.

Zuko closed his laptop and put his small satellite dish into his messenger bag. He laid down on the futon, one hand behind his head and another on his bare stomach. He drifted off into a light sleep.

Hakoda resisted the urge to massage his temples as his secretary read aloud some of the more tedious events and findings of the Hulk-busters operations.

"Here's a more interesting finding, a man in Milwaukee got gamma sickness from some imported soda." she said with a playful smirk. She knew this would wake the General up.

After hearing this Hakoda stood up, in full General mode ready to bark out orders. "Where's the bottling factory that the Soda came from?" he asked her quickly.

"Rio de Janiero, Brazil." she said looking at her clipboard.

"Call our embassy people in Brazil, and tell them we're looking for a white man with an ugly scar on his face working at the bottling company. Tell them to make no contact with him if he even sees them he's gone." His blue eyes were blazing now, _you're not getting away this time Agni._

It was several hours later and General Hakoda was standing next to Colonel Bato on the Hulk-busters military runway.

"It was short notice but I was able to get you some pieces and there all quality."

Bato said smirking at his friend. "I also pulled you an ace." Bato said while pointing at an older light skinned man getting out of a helicopter. "That's Agent Zhou, born in China but raised in England. Was a marine in the Royal Army for 21 years, he'll get you results." Bato said with a smile in his blue eyes.

"I know you had to pull a lot of strings for this Bato." Hakoda said looking at his friend; he clapped a hand on his shoulder in a friendly manner. "I owe you one."

"Glad I could help" He paused to look his friend in the eye. "Just make it good."

After all of the soldiers and weapons were boarded onto the stealth plane, Hakoda's secretary handed out headsets with microphones and a small laminated card printed with Zuko's picture and all of his physical attributes.

Name: Agni, Zuko

Eye Color: Yellow

Hair Color: Black

Height: 6'1

Race: Caucasian

Distinguishing Features: Large, Red, burn scar that covers his left eye and most of the left side of his face. His eyes are golden, a very rare trait among humans.

"Is he a fighter?" mumbled Zhou in his thick British accent, thinking aloud. General Hakoda stood up and grasped a handle to brace himself in the moving plane. All of the soldiers looked to him as he looked directly at each of them in turn.

"Your target is a fugitive from the US. He has stolen military secrets. He's also implicated in the deaths of two scientists, two military officers, a Canadian state trooper and possibly two Canadian Hunters" he counted off on his fingers and then he looked straight at Zhou. "So don't wait to see if he's a fighter!"

Zhou's face was stoic as he listened to General Hakoda's response that was obviously directed at him.

"Tranquilize him, and bring him back." Hakoda finished, his blue eyes were blazing.

00000000000000

Zuko was asleep on his futon when he heard a thump on his rooftop. Years of being on the run made him wake up, instantly alert at the slightest sound. He heard steps rights outside of his door, and the voices of several men. _They found me!_

Hakoda was in a van that was stationed not too far away from Zuko's house. The thin cobblestone roads were hard to navigate through, they dipped and bended without warning. This was made worse as people were out and about, and the fact that the houses were all squashed together.

"Sir we are sending you a feed from the camera tube right now!" he heard a voice come from his headset. He turned his chair to a monitor and saw what appeared to be a person asleep on the bed.

"Blow up his door and tranq him." Hakoda commanded sternly.

The soldiers, all dressed in heavy black military recon garb recoiled the small tube-like camera from underneath the door. They placed several, small gum-like bombs on all four corners of the door.

"Clear out!" One of the soldiers whispered loudly as they all took cover in the alley on the side of the house.

A small exploding sound was made as the bombs went off, the door snapping off its hinges in one piece. They immediately surged into the small apartment, and they saw a lump under the bed. Zhou shot four darts at the blankets. _That's not right _thought Zhou. He walked slowly up to the bed his large gun held at the ready by his right arm. With his left hand he pulled the blanket back. All that was under the blankets was several body pillows and a wig.

When Zuko heard steps outside his door he knew he had maybe half a minute to get out. Luckily he had always prepared for an escape. He quickly grabbed his messenger bag, which already had a change of clothes in it, and shoved his laptop and folded satellite dish. He grabbed a red hoodie that was made of a thin and light fabric, appropriate for the Brazilian air, and hastily threw it over him. He started to hear the voices outside talking_ I have to get out FAST! _He put on his sneakers and was about to climb down a rope that led to Jin's house when he saw the picture of Katara on his nightstand. He snatched it and quickly shoved it into his bag. He then swiftly climbed out the window, using the rope to prevent his fall and threw himself into Jin's window which was below his.

"**What are you doing here?"** Jin shrieked in Portuguese, and he noticed that her skin was damp and that she barely managed to get a towel around her naked body. She was about to say more until he shoved her to the wall and covered her lips with his fingertip, shushing her.

Zhou looked out the window at the end of the small room, and he saw that there was a rope that led to dilapidated street below.

"He's on the ground MOVE!" he said with authority as the small group of soldiers started to pour into the streets.

Jin peeked out her door to see the armed soldiers dressed in black pass her house. She looked back at Zuko and nodded.

"**Thank you"** Zuko whispered to her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. He carefully stepped out the door, lifting the hood of his red sweatshirt to cover his hair, and looked both ways. He went down the stairs that led into a crowded square until he saw a soldier who was scanning the crowd make eye contact with him. Zuko tried to inconspicuously turn his head and walk away until he heard one of the bark "IT'S HIM!" Zuko bolted.

He ran as fast he could into one of the crowded alleys, his hood falling away. He took a quick look behind him and saw a group of soldiers on his tail, and he could see they were having a hard time keeping up. Zuko heard a couple of darts hit the walls of the buildings, narrowly missing him.

The slums narrow and crowded paths made them difficult to navigate and it was hard to tell when you were on a roof top or on solid ground. Zuko used this to his advantage. He swerved his way through people nimbly and maneuvered under clotheslines with big sheets that obscured what was ahead. Zuko know that he head to jump in a second or else he would fall into a lower path painfully. He gracefully landed on a roof top about 10 feet away from the one he'd just been standing on.

He looked back and had to hold back a laugh as he saw several of the "well trained" soldiers fall into the lower path with a startled cry. He continued running when he saw that there was still a few guys hot on his trail. Zuko jumped into the balcony of someone's house, a window on the balcony was left open, showing several large kitchen knives in his reach. Zuko grabbed the largest one and quickly threw it at a soldier who was over ten feet away from him. The knife imbedded itself into the soldier's right shoulder, and his pursuer grunted in pain. That was one more down.

Zuko dropped onto a very crowded road and braced himself against a wall. His pulse was racing and he was getting scared. The heat was building in his chest that usually led to his transformation, so he quickly took deep breaths, calming his nerves. He got up and started walking quickly to the bottling factory.

That was when he saw a large military van, and a familiar face, dressed in green camo stepping out. _General Hakoda_ Zuko thought with disdain. The two men made eye contact; blazing gold eyes met cold blue.

Hakoda took in Zuko's shaggy hair, scruffy appearance, and increased musculature that was easily visible through Zuko's sweat drenched Hoodie. Zuko immediately turned and sprinted away.

"KEEP ON HIM!" Zuko heard the General shout behind him. Zuko made a quick turn until he crashed into someone, sending the other person to the floor. Zuko looked up and realized it was the three brutish thugs that were harassing Jin.

"**What's the rush scar-face?" **the thug that Zuko knocked down sneered before charging at Zuko, pulling his fist back for a punch.

"You gotta be fuckin' with me!" Zuko growled at no one as he got into a stance and grabbed the thug's incoming arm with both hands. Zuko then proceeded to flip the thug over his shoulder, using the momentum of his punch and a bit of his strength. Another thug came at Zuko, who anticipated this and jammed his left elbow into the second guy's midsection, causing the thug to collapse. Zuko then kneed the third thug, who actually wasn't doing anything, in his groin. _Dirty tactic, but now's not the time to be honorable _Zuko though with a smirk. He stopped smirking when he saw the thugs get up, _I don't have time for this!_

Zuko sprinted towards the factory. He managed to get in and tried to hide in the locker room. He felt the heat in his chest return, and he started to breathe deeply as he leaned against the lockers.

"**Gringo!" **he heard one of the thugs call out playfully. _Fucking god, I have to get out of here._

Zuko quietly made his way out of the locker room and up the stairs so he could sneak out one of the back doors. When he opened the door he found that two of the brutes were there, and they had evil smiles on their face. Zuko was backing away when he felt two huge arms encircle him, trapping him. One of the thugs took his messenger back and threw it away.

"No, give that back!" shouted Zuko. He elbowed the thug holding him and made a mad dash to his bag, but two of the thugs grabbed him by the arms and slammed him hard into a metal wall. Zuko groaned in pain. The sprinting from the chase had left him absolutely drained and he couldn't fight back anymore.

**"Alright scar-face let's**** see** **you try those fancy moves again" **the thug that wasn't holding him sneered. "**Well, Come on!"** the thug yelled.

"**Let me go, ****please****!" **Zuko said tiredly. **"Me Angry, it's not good!" **he continued in Portuguese.

"**You very angry? Me, very angry!"** the thug laughed at Zuko.

Zuko looked at the large windows at the front of the factory and saw several snipers. He started to panic, forgetting to speak in Portuguese.

"You don't understand…something very bad is about to happen right now!" he said frenziedly. The thug punched him in the gut really hard. Zuko collapsed in the corner. The heat in his was chest rising and he couldn't control it anymore. As the thugs laughed they didn't notice the heat rolling off of Zuko or his eyes turn red.

"Is anyone else seeing this?" said one of the two snipers. They were on a rooftop that overlooked the bottling factory, using binoculars to see what was happening. After Zuko had fallen to the ground they noticed that his body was thrashing and his shoes were ripping open. They heard groans that were too deep and rough to be human. One of the thugs tried to kick the downed Zuko but a sickening snap sounded and the thug was pulled into the darkness. The two remaining thugs looked at each other stupidly.

Zhou had made it into the front of the factory with about 5 other men. They moved slowly with their guns at the ready. All of a sudden they heard a ferocious primal roar and the bodies of several screaming men fly out of nowhere and hit the metal wall in front of them with a huge amount of force, the sickening cracking of bones was heard throughout the factory. In the darkness Zhou briefly saw the outline of something humanoid and...big. Zhou opened his eyes wider, trying to be sure of whether he saw what his brain told him he was seeing.

"What's going on there Zhou?" He heard the General's voice demand through his ear piece. Zhou turned to a soldier wearing a camera helmet. "Give the general some eyes." Zhou said in his British accent. The soldier nodded and turned on his helmet's camera. In the dark factory it was hard to see. But they all saw the outline of a huge red... thing.

Hakoda opened his eyes in shock; he wasn't prepared for the Hulk! He was doing a quick and quiet, incapacitate and capture mission.

"THAT _IS_ THE TARGET! USE EVERY DART YOU GOT!" Hakoda shouted into the mouth piece of his headset.

The soldiers all raised their guns and a hundred darts went towards the Hulk's back. The needles of the darts bent and bounced off upon impact of the behemoths back.

Zhou and several of the soldiers started running away quickly, switching to live ammo so that they could shoot at it... whatever _it _was. Zhou saw some the dumber soldiers get caught in the huge hands of the beast, the cracking of the soldiers rib cages echoed throughout the factory. The bullets were connecting with the beast, who roared in frustration as it threw the lifeless bodies of the soldiers at the shooting men. Zhou went up the stairs so he could get some high ground on the beast. He was one on the many platforms and from here he could see more clearly.

One of the soldiers threw a flash grenade at the beast, the light and smoke from it highlighting the behemoth's extremely large and muscular figure. When the smoke cleared, the factory was deathly quiet. Zhou couldn't see the Beast anywhere. The soldiers on the ground had already peed themselves and were very scared.

"...Leave me alone..." the phrase seemed to be carried with the wind; they were spoken so deeply that it could've easily been mistaken for a very low growl. All of a sudden a huge metal tank about the size of a truck, it was used to store the soda, rammed into the four soldiers on the ground. A wet noise could be heard to go along with the cracking of bones. The unmistakable able scent of blood filled the air of the factory.

Zhou heard loud booming steps as he saw below the ramp he was on that the beast was walking towards a brick wall. He shot at the things head, it turned around and lifted its head up to face Zhou, Zhou shot several more bullets at the beast's silhouette, the bullets bouncing off of it and landing on the floor with a few clangs. Zhou was about shoot some more until the thing came forward, the moonlight shining in from the factories windows shone on the beast's face.

Zhou was taken off guard; the beast had a huge red face, proportional to its eight foot tall frame. It was extremely muscular, built like football running back. Its red eyes were obscured by shaggy black hair. The thing bared its teeth at Zhou and let out a snarl. Zhou could vaguely make out that its left eye was squinted significantly compared to the other. Zhou was still in shock as the thing grabbed a forklift and threw at Zhou. He barely jumped out of the way, the forklift breaking off part of the ramp that he was on. Zhou managed to grab onto the railing of the ramp as he jumped onto it, and could only watch in awe as the beast rammed its powerful body clean through the brick wall of the factory and jump high into the night sky. A deafening roar could be heard for miles.

"NO! FUCKING NO!" Zhou could hear the General's voice roar into his ear piece.

0000000000000

Zhou, General Hakoda, and Hakoda's secretary were in Zuko's now abandoned Brazilian hide out. Zhou put down Zuko's gray messenger bag on the table.

"I found this in the factory; he had it on him when he bolted." Zhou said his voice barely above a whisper.

His short black hair was matted to his forehead. He had a couple of scrapes, but he would be fine. As Hakoda's secretary emptied out Zuko's bag, Zhou snatched a picture that had fallen out of it.

"His girlfriend? She helps him maybe?" Zhou said in his British accent as he handed the picture of Katara to Hakoda. Hakoda looked at the picture, his blue eyes softening for a moment before they turned cold again.

"She is no longer a factor. He stopped accepting help a long time ago. He's alone..._wants _to be alone." said Hakoda as he folded the picture and put it in his pocket. Hakoda walked away and examined the rope at the window that led to the crowded slum road.

"If I may sir?" Zhou waited for permission to speak freely. Hakoda nodded at him.

"Is someone going to mention the fact that we didn't lose Agni?" he asked with an incredulous look on his face. "We got there and something hit us, something... BIG... _hit us!" _Zhou's face grew more confused when he was that the General's face didn't betray the slightest emotion. "IT THREW A FORKLIFT LIKE IT WAS A BLOODY SOFTBALL!" shouted Zhou. Zhou then turned from the general and started ranting "If Agni knew what that thing was, I'm gonna hunt him down, I'm gonna put

my foot on his throat-"

"It _was Zuko" _Hakoda said. Zhou turned around and looked at Hakoda with a humorless smile on his face. "That thing... was Zuko." Hakoda said with finality.

"You have to explain sir-" Zhou said before he was interrupted by Hakoda.

"No I don't." Hakoda said, effectively closing the conversation. "You did well today Zhou." Hakoda said as he made his way out the door. "Pack everything up. We're going home."

_That beast, that powerful brute. It was Agni? _Thought Zhou with fear and awe.


End file.
